Oprah Just Taught Everyone How To Respond To Trump’s Insults

In recent weeks, Trump has repeatedly attacked the actress and talk show maven. He called Winfrey “very insecure” in a tweet last month and over the weekend he promised to make a possible presidential run “painful” for her.

“I would love to beat Oprah,” Trump said during a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday night. “I know her weakness.”

Not surprisingly, Winfrey took the high road on Sunday when CNN’sVan Jonesasked what she would say in response to Trump’s comments.

Winfrey’spowerful speech at the Golden Globe Awardsearlier this year drew both acclaim and calls for her to run for president against Trump in 2020. However, she has since said she hasn’t heard from God on the issue.

While not a candidate herself, Winfrey did offer some advice for whoever does run:

“I will say to whoever is going to run for office, do not give your energy to the other side. Do not spend all your time talking about your opponents. Do not give your energy to that which you really don’t believe in. Do not spend an ounce of your time on that.”

Trump Is Remaking The Courts In His Image: White, Male and Straight

He’s nominated 87 people to be lifetime federal judges. They’re about as diverse as a casting call for “Mad Men.”

More than a year into his presidency, Donald Trumpis making the nation’s courts look a lot more like him: white, male and straight.

To date, Trump hasnominated 87 peopleto be judges with lifetime tenure on U.S. district courts, circuit courts or Supreme Court. Eighty of them are white, or nearly 92 percent. One is black, one is Latino and five are Asian or Pacific American. He hasn’t nominated any Native American judges.

Put another way:

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The president also keeps nominating men. Sixty-seven of his court picks are male, compared to 20 who are female.

That translates to about 77 percent being men:

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Trump hasn’t nominated any openly LGBTQ people to the federal courts.

It’s even more apparent how homogenous Trump’s picks are when compared to his recent predecessors. A Congressional Research Service analysis looked at the first 26 district and circuit court nominees from the last four presidents: Bill Clinton’s were 73 percent white, George W. Bush’s were 81 percent white, Barack Obama’s were 46 percent white, and Trump’s were 96 percent white.

Advocates for a more diverse federal bench say it’s crucial that the nation’s courts reflect the demographics of the populations they serve.

“People of color, LGBT individuals and women can supply effective, nuanced ‘outsider’ perspectives and insights about critical questions regarding abortion, criminal law, employment discrimination and related complicated issues,” said Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor and expert on the federal judicial nomination process.

Brad Berry, general counsel for the NAACP, called Trump’s court picks “troubling.”

“The varied life experiences that judges bring to the bench quite often inform their views on the questions presented to them for decision,” Berry said. “It is for that reason that diversity on the bench ― racial, ethnic and gender ― is so critically important to the fair operation of our judicial system and, equally important, to the perception of fairness in that system.”

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus have been criticizing the president for months over his judicial nominees. Not only has he selected just one black person to be a judge ― Terry Moorer, a nominee to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama ― but he has infuriated civil rights leaders with another nominee, Thomas Farr, whodefended North Carolina’s voter suppression law and racially discriminatory gerrymandering.

“Because African-Americans have always been disproportionately affected by federal court decisions, the Congressional Black Caucus is virtually obligated to investigate the fairness of the federal judiciary, no matter who is president,” Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) said during a caucus forum in January on judicial diversity.

“These lifetime appointments will have monumental impacts on the future of the nation and on all Americans, none more so than on African-Americans and others seeking an equal place in our country,” she said.

HuffPost reached out to the White House to ask why Trump keeps nominating white men to be judges, and if he plans to nominate more diverse people going forward.

Spokesman Hogan Gidley said their nominees have all been wonderful.

“The President has delivered on his promise to nominate excellent judges, beginning with Justice Gorsuch, and he will continue nominating outstanding candidates,” Gidley said. “We appreciate the hard work of [Senate Judiciary Committee] Chairman [Chuck] Grassley and [Senate Majority] Leader [Mitch] McConnell, and we urge the Senate to confirm all of the remaining nominees because it’s what the American people deserve.”

Black and Hispanic Caucuses merge muscle on O’Hare expansion demands

The Chicago City Council’s Black and Hispanic caucuses are prepared to merge their political muscle to demand that minorities get their fair share of the bonanza of jobs and contracts triggered by a proposed $8.5 billion O’Hare Airport expansion project, an influential alderman said Friday.

Two years ago, the City Council came within one vote of blocking a $3.5 billion O’Hare Airport bond issue, delivering a powerful message about the lack of minority participation on the airport gravy train.

At the time, Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th), chairman of the Black Caucus, warned that future alliances between the Black and Hispanic caucuses could someday create a political roadblock that would force Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s hand.

On Friday, Sawyer issued a similar warning about the $4 billion borrowing Emanuel wants aldermen to authorize to start the ball rolling on the O’Hare expansion plan that American Airlines stands alone in opposing because of a dispute about five additional gates being awarded to hometown United.

“We almost stopped one once before. So that is one way” to leverage job and contracting demands, Sawyer said.

“We want to make sure this process is truly fair, and we’re not getting shafted or inundated with promises and nothing fulfilled . . . We want more than just promises. We want something that’s enforceable.”

Together, Blacks and Hispanics comprise roughly 66 percent of Chicago residents. Sawyer acknowledged that demanding 66 percent of the jobs and contracts at an expanded O’Hare would be a “tough ask.”

But he said, “Our goal individually and collectively is to make sure that we’re not ignored in this process . . . We want contracting to look more like the city. We want it to be reflective of what the city’s demographics are.”

The Black Caucus has 18 members; the Hispanic Caucus is 11 aldermen strong. Together, they have the 29 votes needed to block the O’Hare expansion plan and the $4 billion bond issue needed to get it started.

Sawyer acknowledged the last thing either caucus wants is to stop the gravy train from leaving the station.

“That would be cutting my nose off to spite my face,” he said.

Where then is his leverage?

“They need the bonding authority to get started on the work. These are things we have to look at to make sure we’re doing what’s right for our constituents,” he said.

Earlier this week, the Hispanic Caucus demanded five years worth of hiring and contracting information from both United and American Airlines that will be used to determine whose side to take in the high-stakes battle over new gates at an expanded O’Hare Airport.

Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th), chairman of the Hispanic Caucus, made the demand during closed-door, back-to-back briefings with both carriers searching for City Council allies in their high-stakes dispute over gates at an expanded O’Hare.

The Black Caucus is scheduled to meet Monday with American and United. The airlines want to talk about gates, while the aldermen want to talk turkey about jobs and contracts.

“I don’t want us to be deflected by the gate issue. I don’t want that to be the end-all, be-all. The real important issue is the teams they’re going to be picking, the complexity of those teams, and how it’s going to benefit the black community and the Latino community,” Sawyer said.

“We want to make sure the numbers they’re talking about are floors — not ceilings. If they’re talking about 30 percent, we want the numbers to bust out of that . . . We want to make new millionaires. This is an opportunity to get more people in the craft trades, construction business, professional services, engineering, lawyers, bond underwriting. Everybody can do well when you’re spending this kind of money.”